Crop Steering in coco. How to determine optimal EC?

[LJ farming]

I run coco with precision fertigation, have been for a couple years now.
Input EC of 3 is fine, but outside of stretch I don't like to see runoff EC higher than 4.5 or so mid to late flower. During stretch I like to stack EC pretty hard, up in the 8 to 12 range depending on strain, but with a big big P2 after the last p1 to get that media EC back to a resonable number.
I found that I almost never have to raise input EC, but rather shorten the duration of P1s to stack higher.Since you are getting in to this, how good does it feel when your overnight dryback comes in tright on target? Its like, yeah, I'm THE MAN! lol

Hell yea bud I fuck around with it but I definitely am not the man. Plus I run open end tubing no high pressure or emitters and I doubt I can ever do it properly how I run but the plants definitely all get the same amount.

Peace

 

[BigF]

Hell yea bud I fuck around with it but I definitely am not the man. Plus I run open end tubing no high pressure or emitters and I doubt I can ever do it properly how I run but the plants definitely all get the same amount.

Peace

I have done it with open lines, but the tough part there is finding a timer that will let you do shots in seconds instead of minutes. Used to use a Nearpow timer to do it, but programming that thing was insane. Now using .5 gph drippers from Lowes with a 50 dollar aquarium pump. Still not really satisified with it, but its workable.

 

[Ca++]

$20 high pressure pumps https://www.icmag.com/threads/3-phase-pumps-the-latest-thing.17939901/
$20 timers to the second https://www.icmag.com/threads/1-second-interval-timer-plug.379675/

 

[LJ farming]

I have done it with open lines, but the tough part there is finding a timer that will let you do shots in seconds instead of minutes. Used to use a Nearpow timer to do it, but programming that thing was insane. Now using .5 gph drippers from Lowes with a 50 dollar aquarium pump. Still not really satisified with it, but its workable.

I run a $40 Autopilot timer that goes down to seconds and a max of 8 events per 24 hours. All of my veg, clone, moms and every other timer I use look and function exactly the same but they don’t go down to the second and cost $12. Exact same factory in China IMO but the Autopilot has 12 more cents in engineering.

I tried to order the same Autopilot for a back up a year or so ago and they were discontinued. There are a couple other brands that can do it but I will have to go back to timer kindergarten when I have to switch and that’s a bitch!

I definitely would like to PM you or we can talk on here BIgF. I only try to dryback for 14 hours but I think perhaps I ram unnecessary P 3-8s. I run 1 gallon pots. I make sure I get runoff on the first and last feed (P) however I give them and extra small shot up to 6 more times per lights on cycle?????

I’m chopping this down in 3-4 days.

Peace

 

[BigF]

I run a $40 Autopilot timer that goes down to seconds and a max of 8 events per 24 hours. All of my veg, clone, moms and every other timer I use look and function exactly the same but they don’t go down to the second and cost $12. Exact same factory in China IMO but the Autopilot has 12 more cents in engineering.

I tried to order the same Autopilot for a back up a year or so ago and they were discontinued. There are a couple other brands that can do it but I will have to go back to timer kindergarten when I have to switch and that’s a bitch!

I definitely would like to PM you or we can talk on here BIgF. I only try to dryback for 14 hours but I think perhaps I ram unnecessary P 3-8s. I run 1 gallon pots. I make sure I get runoff on the first and last feed (P) however I give them and extra small shot up to 6 more times per lights on cycle?????

I’m chopping this down in 3-4 days.

Peace


View attachment 19160975 View attachment 19160976 View attachment 19160977

Girls looking solid.
Yeah would love to chat more about the strategies involved. Love this stuff!
I got a raspberry Pi to control a power brick that i want to use for down-to-the-second pump timing so i can go back to open lines. Have been writing software long long time, but don't have the electronics experience to plug this thing in right. Plug it in backwards, and boom Fried Pi. Its a 50/50 chance, but I haven't wored up the nerve to do it yet. For like 2 years now lol.

 

[BigF]

Stacking P1s yesterday

Hempy buckets and drippers

Big Bud Bowling Pin Boof Bomb in the making, this pheno will definitely NOT be The One.

Flower Family Portrait - Perpetual means always something new and something near harvest

 

[LJ farming]

What kind of sensors do you use to get the substrate EC value? I only measure runoff EC and Ph if I see a problem beginning with the plants. It would be nice to know before a problem starts but I’m definitely not buying a $3000-$5000 of sensors and monitors to achieve it. Ha

I would guess that I waste a lot more nutrients than necessary however once a one gallon pot in coco is root bound you can’t overwater it and I would rather be safe than sorry. Depending on grow cycle stage I will run between 10-30 gallons per day to 80ish 1 gallon pots. When running Jacks and having my own well the cost of the nutrients and water each grow is pretty much insignificant. Maybe $100 each grow. Electricity is about $2000 per grow cycle including perpetual veg, dry and cure room, and clone room. When everything goes as planned I have hit 2 - 2 1/2 per light numerous times. However when 1 or 2 things don’t go as planned or get overlooked it will go down to less than 2 per light and is typically not correctable once the plants are in the bloom room.

Currently my true dry back happens from 2 hours before lights out until 1 1/2 hours after lights on. So a 15 1/2 hour period.

Peace

 

[BigF]

What kind of sensors do you use to get the substrate EC value? I only measure runoff EC and Ph if I see a problem beginning with the plants. It would be nice to know before a problem starts but I’m definitely not buying a $3000-$5000 of sensors and monitors to achieve it. Ha

I would guess that I waste a lot more nutrients than necessary however once a one gallon pot in coco is root bound you can’t overwater it and I would rather be safe than sorry. Depending on grow cycle stage I will run between 10-30 gallons per day to 80ish 1 gallon pots. When running Jacks and having my own well the cost of the nutrients and water each grow is pretty much insignificant. Maybe $100 each grow. Electricity is about $2000 per grow cycle including perpetual veg, dry and cure room, and clone room. When everything goes as planned I have hit 2 - 2 1/2 per light numerous times. However when 1 or 2 things don’t go as planned or get overlooked it will go down to less than 2 per light and is typically not correctable once the plants are in the bloom room.

Currently my true dry back happens from 2 hours before lights out until 1 1/2 hours after lights on. So a 15 1/2 hour period.

Peace

I am using the Growlink sensor, older one I bought like 3 years ago. It was around $800 at the time I think. But its only one sensor, so I move it around to different plants, but obviously can't cover all. It is possible to get in the ballpark with some observation. For example, if it takes P1 shots to produce runoff, I know the EC didn't stack very high. If it takes 12 shots, EC probably stacked super high. So by watching the girls I can get close by eye.
I have been running Athena Pro line for about 3 years. Cost per mixed gallon comes in around 18 cents according to them.
2 hours before lights out for last P2 sounds pretty good. Precision fertigation is pretty fun and rewarding!

 

[zfyq]

What kind of sensors do you use to get the substrate EC value? I only measure runoff EC and Ph if I see a problem beginning with the plants. It would be nice to know before a problem starts but I’m definitely not buying a $3000-$5000 of sensors and monitors to achieve it. Ha

I would guess that I waste a lot more nutrients than necessary however once a one gallon pot in coco is root bound you can’t overwater it and I would rather be safe than sorry. Depending on grow cycle stage I will run between 10-30 gallons per day to 80ish 1 gallon pots. When running Jacks and having my own well the cost of the nutrients and water each grow is pretty much insignificant. Maybe $100 each grow. Electricity is about $2000 per grow cycle including perpetual veg, dry and cure room, and clone room. When everything goes as planned I have hit 2 - 2 1/2 per light numerous times. However when 1 or 2 things don’t go as planned or get overlooked it will go down to less than 2 per light and is typically not correctable once the plants are in the bloom room.

Currently my true dry back happens from 2 hours before lights out until 1 1/2 hours after lights on. So a 15 1/2 hour period.

Peace

You can build a DIY sensor from parts from china and some open source code for like $50
Then use that to control smart plugs to irrigate down to the second.
I've been using the comwintop THC-S sensor to crop steer for a couple years now, using home assistant as the base, have spent like a few hundred bucks on the automation stuff, and that includes media sensor, reservoir automation with ph and dosing, co2 sensor, fan control etc.
Its just that there still aren't turnkey diy solutions you can just pop on an sd card and be growing, theres still a ton of customization.
https://github.com/kromadg/soil-sensor if you wanna start digging in on the diy sensor stuff.
Growlink, aroya, pulse, trol, etc etc are all functional and pretty good and turn-key, but you really pay for the convenience.
Edit: a growmie just released this, it might be worth taking a look at. https://github.com/JakeTheRabbit/HA...blob/main/docs/comprehensive_documentation.md

 

[BigF]

You can build a DIY sensor from parts from china and some open source code for like $50
Then use that to control smart plugs to irrigate down to the second.
I've been using the comwintop THC-S sensor to crop steer for a couple years now, using home assistant as the base, have spent like a few hundred bucks on the automation stuff, and that includes media sensor, reservoir automation with ph and dosing, co2 sensor, fan control etc.
Its just that there still aren't turnkey diy solutions you can just pop on an sd card and be growing, theres still a ton of customization.
https://github.com/kromadg/soil-sensor if you wanna start digging in on the diy sensor stuff.
Growlink, aroya, pulse, trol, etc etc are all functional and pretty good and turn-key, but you really pay for the convenience.
Edit: a growmie just released this, it might be worth taking a look at. https://github.com/JakeTheRabbit/HA...blob/main/docs/comprehensive_documentation.md

Whoa that software documentation is impressive! May have to give that a spin.